Hey there, Morselers. You know, however one feels about Henry Cavill or Ben Affleck, the best bit of casting in Justice League is undoubtedly that of J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon. And the beloved character actor has a few things to say about his role in the film in today’s Movie Morsels. Plus, we have the latest on Ghostbusters, Disney’s live-action fairy tale film plans, and a whole lot more!
Justice League
The mighty J.K. Simmons sat down for a lengthy chat with DP/30 in which he shared a few things about his role as the equally mighty Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon opposite Ben Affleck’s Batman in the upcoming Justice League movie. You can watch the complete interview below. But here are the highlights…
Regarding the size of his role, Simmons said, “Honestly, I don’t get started on that until June, and my part in the first one is very small. I’m excited to be playing that iconic character in that iconic series; I was trying to think of a different adjective but they’re both iconic. That’s a couple of movies down the road still, I’m focused on what I’m doing now and then another one, and then I’ll worry about how I can honor that character and that franchise.”
And as far as how many DCEU films he might do, Simmons commented…
“With these big superhero movies everybody is so tight lipped about everything, there’s a certain amount of just going on faith. They asked me to come in and meet with Zack Snyder and we had a great meeting. I’m a big fan of what he’s done and we hit it off and he asked me to do the guy. Really, I’m going into a thing that hopefully will be two, three, four… maybe more movies for me, and my part in the first one is really very small, but obviously we know who the guy is. We know his whole backstory, based on the comic book. So, I’m just gonna finish doing my research on that, and probably not watch the other actors who have played the part, because that is just kind of intimidating honestly and I don’t think I would find that to be productive. So I’ll just do my take.”
Ghostbusters
Once again, Empire magazine has exclusive covers for one of the summer’s biggest expected blockbusters. This time the UK publication gives the deluxe treatment to the new Ghostbusters, with a pair of cover images that recall the original 1984 masterpiece…
[Empire]
Disney Live-Action Fairy Tale Movies
We recently reported that Disney was already talking about Jungle Book 2, given the immediate smash success of the new Jon Favreau-directed film. Now the Mouse has announced a handful of release dates for several live-action films based on fairy tales. The first (as yet untitled) such film arrives July 28, 2017 (it was previously slotted for December 22, 2017). While the second opens on April 6, 2018, and a third on December 20, 2019. Additionally, two other untitled films “not based on fairy tales, but potentially drawing on other recognizable source material” will arrive on August 3, 2018 and December 25, 2018.
So what could these films be? Here are the potential candidates: Emma Stone in Cruella, Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle in Time, Dwayne Johnson in Jungle Cruise, Tim Burton’s Dumbo, Emily Blunt in Mary Poppins 2, Angelina Jolie in Maleficent 2, Lasse Hallstrom’s Nutcracker, Jon Favreau’s Jungle Book 2, and Reese Witherspoon in a Tinker Bell movie.
[EW]
Dredd 2
While director Alex Garland has said a Dredd sequel is extremely unlikely, star Karl Urban hasn’t given up hope. He recently tweeted his hopes to continue as the immortal Mega-City One enforcer in a story offered on a platform other than theatrical…
Dredd 2 : I’d do it !! @netflix or @Amazon . There’s a gold mine of Awesome Mega city 1 stories ! https://t.co/5KeUAizPNS
— Karl Urban (@KarlUrban) April 21, 2016
Urban’s tweet has already led to an online petition. Woot!
Goosebumps 2
Hey, speaking of sequels (a rare occurrence, I know, here at MM), Goosebumps 2 is in the works. Sony is reportedly close to making a a deal with returning director Rob Letterman and screenwriter Darren Lemke. The studio’s next priority is signing on the first film’s R.L. Stine himself, star Jack Black. With countless Goosebumps books by the real Stine to draw from, this is one franchise with enough source material to last well into the next century.
What do you think of today’s top stories? Let us know below!
Featured Image: Warner Bros.
Images: Sony/Columbia, Empire, Disney, Lionsgate
